Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne, CH, PC (15 April 1887 – 3 September 1971), known as "Top Wolmer" and styled Viscount Wolmer from 1895 to 1941, was a British administrator, intelligence officer and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician.

Background and education

Born in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

, Wolmer was the eldest son of

William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne (17 October 185926 February 1942), styled Viscount Wolmer between 1882 and 1895, was a British politician and colonial administrator, who served as High Commissioner for Southern Africa. Backgroun ...

and his wife, the former Lady Maud Cecil, daughter of Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and graduated from

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

in 1909. He was the cousin of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury.

Political career

A few months later, at the December 1910 general election Lord Wolmer entered Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Newton division of Lancashire. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to his uncle, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Robert Cecil in 1916 and assistant director of the War Trade Department from 1916 to 1918. At the 1918 general election, he did not stand in Newton (which was won by the Labour Party politician, Robert Young), but was elected to the newly formed constituency of

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

that year. From 1922 to 1924, he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade and Assistant Postmaster-General from 1924 to 1929. In November 1940, Lord Wolmer resigned his seat in the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

, and was called up to the House of Lords in his father's barony of Selborne in January 1941. He was Director of Cement at the Ministry of Works from 1940 to 1942. In 1942, he inherited his father's earldom and his last political post was as

Minister of Economic Warfare The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. The minister was in charge of the Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed ...

from 1942 to 1945. This put him in charge of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which ran undercover operations of sabotage in Occupied Europe. It was his policy to back the

Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

despite the numerous items of intelligence that suggested that they were in league with the Germans. He was responsible for a delay of 12 months in support being given to Tito's Partisans, and when Fitzroy MacLean was ordered to go to Cairo with a view to establishing contact with Tito, he did everything he could to frustrate the mission. He was made a member of the

Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an Order (distinction), order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the Brit ...

after the war and in 1948 was Master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, then chairman of the

National Provincial Bank National Provincial Bank was a retail bank which operated in England and Wales. It was created in 1833 as National Provincial Bank of England, and expanded largely by taking over a number of other banks. Following the transformative acquisitio ...

from 1951 to 1953 and deputy chairman of

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

from 1951 to 1964.

Family

On 9 June 1910, he married the Honourable Grace Ridley, third daughter of Matthew White Ridley, 1st Viscount Ridley. They had six surviving children: * Lady Anne Beatrice Mary (1911–2002), married the Reverend John Brewis. * William Matthew Palmer, Viscount Wolmer (1912–1942), married Priscilla Egerton-Warburton. * Lady Laura Mary (1915–1999), married Cyril Eastaugh, Bishop of Peterborough. * Hon. Robert Jocelyn (1919–1991), married Anne Palmer, 11th Baroness Lucas. * Lady Mary Sophia (1920–2001), Hon. Anthony Strachey (son of Maurice Towneley-O'Hagan, 3rd Baron O'Hagan). * Hon. Edward Roundell (1926–1974), married Joanna Bacon (a daughter of Sir Edmund Bacon, Bt). Lord Selborne's wife died in 1959 and on 3 March 1966, he married Valerie Bevan ''née'' de Thomkahaza, a daughter of a Hungarian politician. His eldest son, Major William Wolmer, was killed on 2 October 1942. by a stray artillery shell during an army training exercise on the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

. Upon Palmer's own death in 1971 in

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in East Hampshire, England, near the source of the northern branch of the River Wey. It had a population of 19,425 at the 2021 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone' ...

aged 84, he was succeeded in his titles by his grandson, John.

Arms

References

External links

*
Burke's Peerage & Gentry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selborne, Roundell Palmer, 3rd Earl of 1887 births 1971 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Palmer, Roundell 3 English Anglicans Foreign Office personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Palmer, Roundell Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945 Ministry of Economic Warfare Roundell Palmer, Roundell People educated at Winchester College People from Alton, Hampshire People from Selborne People from Westminster Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Palmer, Roundell Selborne, E3